Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.505, 431-440, 2009
Dewetting-Assisted Formation of Novel Dequenched Aggregates of Rhodamines: Comparison with J- and H-Aggregates
Self-organized rhodamine aggregates prepared by wetting/dewetting process of an ethanol solution on a hydrophilic glass surface consistently exhibited fluorescence without quenching. Upon annealing, the aggregates exhibited an irreversible transition to quenched state, similar to H-aggregate, whereas the fluorescence spectrum was unchanged. The as grown highly fluorescent aggregate is a novel aggregate, neither a J-aggregate nor an H-aggregate, showing a blue-shifted excitation spectrum whereas the emission spectrum is similar to that of molecularly dispersed solution. This fluorescent aggregate was only realized in nonequilibrium by the rapid dewetting process.
Keywords:dewetting process;H aggregate;J aggregate;molecular orientation;pi conjugated dye;quasi-stable;self assembled